Unnikrishnan Es
The Enigma that is Life
Life is an enigma! Who knows what it is and why it is,
Where do we come from and where are we unto.
What happened yesterday is past, and remains a fact;
But we live only today, this very moment.
Whatever has passed till now we have been just spectators;
What about the future then? Is it that the world is for us
Or we have made what it is today?
Nothing is in our control. Or why should anything be?
Man comes to this world with his fists clenched,
Ready to grab anything he can lay his hands on.
But when he leaves, he leaves with his hands open
Leaving everything behind. Only his karma remains with him.
Geeta says, soul, The Aatman has no death nor birth;
Death is when the body is discarded as jeerna vastram
And soul goes on to mantle a new one, as we change dress.
Who are we? The body that dies or the immortal soul?
If life is enigmatic, so is love. Why do I love another being?
Is for my sake, or his? Why do I love one, but hate the other?
What do I get in return for my love? Or should I?
Is love a karma adequate? If yes, whom should I love?
*The Poet says, “love is the essence of everything on earth;
And the principle of love is the ultimate truth that governs life”.
**Another claims, ”love is the one religion that spreads life
Across the universe, the full moon spreading moonshine.”
What is love? Is it the feeling of man to woman?
Or that of mother to her child or that you have for me?
How can we define all these different feelings of love?
How do we differentiate? Or who are we to differentiate?
Oh! Life’s so complicated. But why is it so?
What is the purpose of our existence?
Why do we think? What does death portent?
Oh! Let us speak of life, not death. And of course, love.
Notes:
1. Vocabulary:
Karma (Sanskrit): Destiny; The duties assigned to man by destiny.
Bhagawat Gita says, “karmanye va adhikaraste, ma phaleshu kadachana”, meaning “you have to do the works assigned to you (by destiny) without any desire for a favoured result”.
Jeerna vastram (s): old torn dress.
Bhagawat Gita says: as man discards old dress and dons a new one, the Aatman discards old or affected body to mantle a new one.
2. References:
*Renouned Poet (Malayalam) of yesteryears Kumaran Asan wrote,
സ്നേഹമാണഖിലസാരമൂഴിയിൽ
സ്നേഹസാരമിഹ സത്യമേകമാം
**This reference is to the famous poem “Prema sangeetam” (the song of love) by Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, again a Malayalam Poet, contemporary to Asan. The lines read as follows.
ഒരൊറ്റ മതമുണ്ടുലകിന്നുയിരാം പ്രേമമതൊന്നല്ലോ
പരക്കെ നമ്മെ പാലമൃതൂട്ടും പാർവണ ശശിബിംബം
The romantic poet (Malayalam, of course), Changampuzha Krishnapilla wrote:
സ്നേഹിക്കയില്ല ഞാൻ നോവുമാത്മാവിനെ
സ്നേഹിച്ചിടാത്തൊരു തത്വശാസ്ത്രത്തേയും.
Meaning, I cannot love a philosophy that does not care for a grieving soul.
